Perry Tyson plant to suspend day of production on Monday for deep cleaning

Staff Report

Sunday

Apr 19, 2020 at 2:21 PMApr 19, 2020 at 10:22 PM

Positive COVID-19 cases were recently confirmed at the Perry Tyson plant. The company has since announced that it will "suspend a day of production at our Perry facility to complete an additional deep clean of our facility."

Liz Croston, a spokesperson for Tyson, said in a statement that the company's "plant production areas are sanitized daily to ensure food safety."

"We have significantly stepped up deep cleaning and sanitizing of our facilities, especially in employee breakrooms, locker rooms and other areas to protect our team members," she added.

Monday's deep cleaning of the Perry facility will be completed as an added precaution.

"We’re working hard to protect our team members during this ever-changing situation, while also ensuring we continue fulfilling our critical role of helping feed people in our community and across the country," Croston said.

Other preventative measures have included checking worker temperatures as they come into the facilities, mandating and providing face coverings as well as additional cleaning.

Tyson has also put in place various social distancing measures, including workstation dividers and adding more space in the breakrooms. The company's attendance policy was also relaxed in March in order to encourage works to stay home when sick.

Team members have also been educated on COVID-19 and how important it is to follow CDC guidelines while not at work.

"Our workplace safety efforts are significant and strictly enforced," Croston said. "We understand everyone, including our team members, is anxious during this challenging time and we’re committed in doing everything to be there for each other as we navigate through this together.

The exact number of positive cases at the Perry plant remains unknown, due to privacy concerns.

The state's COVID-19 case numbers jumped to 389 on Sunday, April 19, based on numbers from the Iowa Department of Public Health.

A release from the governor's office said "261, or 67 percent, of Sunday's 389 additional positive cases can be attributed to surveillance testing of meat processing facilities. That includes over 500 completed surveillance tests of Tyson employees and over 500 completed surveillance tests of National Beef employees, for a total of 84 positive and 177 positive respectively."